Jack-o'-Lantern Pumpkin Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Let's celebrate with Jack-o'-Lantern Pumpkin Quinoa Stuffed Peppers! Orange bell peppers are sliced and diced with jack-o’-lantern faces and stuffed with wholesome pumpkin and Suncore Foods® Rainbow Quinoa Seeds. What an amazingly creative idea for a festive and hearty lunch or dinner to make Halloween more than just ingesting scary amounts of candy! Let’s have some sweet treats and keep all the ghoulish fun and haunting spirit!
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup choice of milk
1/4 cup choice of cheese
1 tsp salt
1-3 fresh sage leaves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup pumpkin puree
6-8 ounces baby spinach
2 cups cooked Suncore Foods® Rainbow Quinoa Seeds
4 large bell peppers (orange if making pumpkins), tops cut off and seeds removed
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Using a paring knife, cut small jack-o’-lantern face from bell pepper (optional). Set aside.
3. Heat up olive oil and saute onions over medium heat until they start to brown and then add in garlic for a second. Add flour to make a roux and cook for another 1 minute, stirring constantly.
4. Then add in milk and cook for a few minutes until you have a thick sauce. Stir often. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add sage, cinnamon, cayenne, nutmeg, pepper and salt. Stir well.
5. Mix in pumpkin and stir until combined. Add spinach and stir until coated and wilted. Add in Suncore Foods® Rainbow Quinoa Seeds and stir until all ingredients are well-combined.
6. Fill four bell peppers. Top with panko breadcrumbs and melted butter.
7. Bake for 1 hour or until breadcrumbs are browned and peppers are soft. Enjoy!